Viviane dragged Kylian back to the front entrance of the National Laboratory. Off to the side of the entrance and down the hall was a small, dusty room which never got any foot traffic.

Where is she taking me? Kylian wondered. Although Kylian was happy to be led around by a tall and beautiful young lady, he definitely felt out of his league. For one, he couldn’t even see over Viviane’s head. She must have been at least as tall as him if not taller with those heeled shoes she had on. And secondly, she led him to a place where the two of them would be alone together. Although Kylian did entertain the possibility that Viviane might be interested in him, reality yanked him back to Earth once they reached the room.

“Here,” said Viviane, “I’m supposed to show you around, so come and look at this.”

The room was quiet and still, and its furnishings were old and scratched -- it was as if the room had never changed since it was built. Kylian saw that it was filled with displays of historical significance re-telling the discoveries of Dr. Renard and the science of teleportation. Right in the middle of the room was a thick metal table with holes drilled into its top surface that were used to mount various scientific instruments and sensors. Kylian’s eyes lit up upon seeing it.

“Is that. . .Is that really what I think it is?” he asked in awe. As was his habit, it wasn’t clear if he was talking to himself or to Viviane.

“Yes, it’s Dr. Leandre Renard’s first matter teleportation apparatus in which matter was teleported for the first time under laboratory conditions,” said Viviane.

Kylian remained awestruck. “I’ve seen pictures of this in my textbooks. This was what he used to teleport one microgram of 100% pure, single-isotope Gold from one end of the apparatus to the other. With this setup, he proved that matter could be converted into information by entanglement and then reconstituted through quantum decoherence somewhere else. It was the miracle breakthrough that changed the world forever.”

“It wasn’t a miracle even though people say it was,” said Viviane, “It was through the genius of one man, not God, that this became possible. If God had given us teleportation, He would have made it perfect. However, as we all know, this first teleportation attempt wasn’t perfect.”

“Yes, I was told early on that the one microgram of Gold which emerged on the other side was only 99.99% pure and the original microgram of Gold disappeared in the process of teleportation.” With his finger pointed at the apparatus, Kylian traced out the path of the teleported sample of Gold as it disappeared from one vacuum chamber and reappeared in another vacuum chamber. “The teleported microgram of Gold contained errors. Other elements and even missing atoms from the original Gold lattice were detected in the replica microgram.”

From out of nowhere and as if she had been standing there the whole time, Moyenne spoke up without warning surprising everyone. “That’s why today’s teleportation technology is only used to teleport bulk materials like mined ore, lumber, furniture and waste byproducts.”

Moyenne’s outburst jolted Viviane with surprise. “When did you show up?!”

“When I finally caught up with you!” Moyenne made a petulant face. “What’s the big idea running off like that?”

Viviane pursed her lips in disgust and turned a deaf ear to Moyenne. Kylian was quick to change the subject back to the topic of science.

“I heard that in early biological experiments the teleportation of living organisms like single-celled plants and animals didn’t turn out well,” said Kylian.

“They died after being teleported,” Viviane said.

The air hung heavy and the mood became somber at the mention of death. Even in such an advanced society as the UEN that had the wealth and power provided by science and technology, some goals still remained unattainable.

“And for that reason, teleportation of live plants and animals is forbidden by law. The same goes for food too,” said Moyenne. The dangers of teleportation were impressed upon everyone who worked at the National Lab.

“Since the process of teleportation is irreversible, there’s no way to bring back to life whatever died during teleportation,” reminded Viviane. “For this reason, we can never use this technology to teleport humans and anyone purposely found doing so will be criminally charged with homicide.

“So, our purpose and our mission here at the National Laboratory is to advance the science of teleportation so we can teleport with greater and greater accuracy and maybe someday reach 100% perfect teleportation.”

A sober quiet fell over the three physicists as they contemplated the seriousness of their work: To improve an already incredible technology. It felt like an impossible task. To attain 100% perfect accuracy might take years, decades perhaps. Was it worth squeezing the brains of so many talented young Ph.D.’s to reach this far away goal?

Viviane snapped out of her contemplation. “Oh, my goodness! I’m going to be late for my kickboxing class at Hyperextension! I’m sorry I lost track of the time. I’ve got to go! Moyenne, you can show him the rest of the office, OK?”

“Moyenne?” Kylian asked the air around him.

“Earth to Kylian! I’m right here you ding-dong!” shouted Moyenne.

Kylian came back to earth. “Oh, right. I forgot your name…you’re Moyenne, right?”

Moyenne puffed out a loud sigh. “Moyenne Signifier. Why does Viviane get all the attention? It’s always like this when I’m with her.”

Kylian tuned out Moyenne, and although his feet remained fixed to the earth, his mind floated off again. He was struck by the beauty of the National Laboratory’s research center and stared wistfully in Viviane’s direction as she ran off.

He looked forward to their next encounter.